Questions on basting

[shorequilt]

hi all --

i have a full size top completed and i'm now ready to begin the quilting. in past i would normally send this out to be quilted because i don't like quilting this size on my dsm. yesterday i purchased george and going to try doing this myself. i spent all day playing and quilted a baby quilt, which i spray basted and the machine worked beautifully. i love it!!!

i've spray basted wall size and baby quilts and it's worked fine. i'm not sure how it will work with a larger quilt. will it be easy to get everything smooth? some people say the spray the batting others the fabric. does anyone have any experience or tips?

i've also heard about the fusible batting, but have never used it. does anyone have any experience with this?

i've worked so hard on this quilt top and want to do a good job with the quilting. i like the idea of the spay because it's so quick, but more importantly, i want it to look good.

thanks for all your help.

-- deb

[SandraC]

When I first used the spray, I did like you and started on small quilts. Then I did it on a big one that I was hand-quilting and it held for the whole time.

I sprayed the wrong side of the backing, laid the batting on that, then sprayed the batting and put the top on.

Good luck, I hope it works for you, too.

[SandraC]

Oh, yeah...when I put the top on the batting....I fold it nicely into quarters, lay it on the batt, open it up carefully so that it is nice and smooth (hope this makes sense!)

[cbear]

Deb, I'm interested in how you make out with the spray if you do use it. I just bought some to try on some small projects. My new George is to arrive today so I'm very excited to try out lots of new ideas!

I also have another question about basting. In the past I've pin basted my quilts and all came out fine except one in which the edges became wavy, I think because of the quilting process. Whenever I've sent a large quilt to a LA'er I noticed the outside perimiter was machine sewn together. Now I'm wondering if I should be doing that to my quilts after pin basting and before quilting? The quilt with the problem had an inside boarder made of bias strips. In the quilt was a combination of batiks and regular cotton fabrics. There was also some heavy quilting. I think the combination of all of that made the edges wave, but I'm wondering how to avoid that problem in the future.

Thanks,

[JudyLynn]

Hi all,

I use spray baste all the time---have some quilts sprayed for at least 5 years now, and they are still stuck together, not quilted yet tho.

I always lay out my whole quilt, backing, batting then top. I lay back the top two layers, half way if it is not to big, spray the backing put over the batting smoothing it out very well, spray the batting then pull over the top and smooth it out very well. Then go to the other 1/2 and do the same thing. Then I turn it over and smooth out any possible wrinkles. Of course, you will need a big space to do this. I have gone to a church and used their tables pulled together to get a big enough space. I have used the floor but, it hurts to bend over that far and for the long;)

I would warn you tho, that make sure you have good ventilation---this stuff really stinks. And DO NOT LET THIS STUFF GET ON YOUR SEWING SUPPLIES. I NEVER spray it around George. Don't want to clog his air ways:D.

I teach an adult education class on quilting and I make my students pin baste their first projects, makes them appreciate the spray baste when they use it the first time.

So good luck. I have never had a problem with spray baste with George. Judy

[Bonnie]

Personally I think Sullivan's Basting Spray company should give me stocks in there company.....I can't even begin to tell you how many cases of this stuff I have used over the years. I have even sprayed king sized quilts when the customer wanted them quilted totally in the ditch. I don't have a Stitch Regulated LA machine and this is the only way I can do it and make it perfectly in the ditch. I use either a Brother 1500 or a Janome 6500 to do my ditch work, they have a 9 inch opening and you can get any sized quilt in there as long as its basted down, then I move it to the longarm and finish the rest of the work...or not depending on the project.

Yes, if you get carried away with overspray, you will have a sticky mess, but with a bit of warm/hot water and soap it all comes out....when I closed my rented studio in Reno, I had over 8 years of spray to steam clean out of the carpet and it all came out with a bit of elbow grease and determination.

As far as smells go...after awhile you don't smell it and can get a bit dizzy, but in my case no one can tell so I never did open the windows. Yes, it should be used in a well ventilated room or outside.:cool:

One can of Sullivan's will spray 1 king size OR 2 queens, OR a whole bunch of wallhangings.

[PattyJo]

I have also used spray baste and loved it. A class that I took in the beginning of my quilting life, the instructor said to lay out your 3 layers, fold back the top 2 and spray the wrong side of the backing fold up the batting (using the can like a rolling pin lightly run over batting to make sure that there are no wrinkles) then spray the wrong side of the top and fold that up onto the sandwich. She thought that the spray adheared better when sprayed on the fabric rather than the batting so that is the way I have always done it. She also thought that you could get more quilts out of a can of spray baste that way. Then go to the other end of the quilt and repeat that. Using the can to smooth out wrinkles really works well and doesn't distort any bias like your hand could. This worked great on lap size and smaller quilts for me. When I did try a queen size, I think the wieght of it being wrestled under the arm of the machine caused some tucks on the back, so just be careful and the larger throat that you have on your machine the better. My next DM will have a much larger throat than what I have now.